Page 2023 - Week 07 - Thursday, 13 August 2020

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video


Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

At 6.30 pm, in accordance with standing order 34, the debate was interrupted. The motion for the adjournment of the Assembly having been put and negatived, the debate was resumed.

Detail stage

Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.

Debate (on motion by Mr Rattenbury) adjourned to the next sitting.

Adjournment

Motion (by Mr Gentleman) proposed:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

Mr Alexander Arnel—tribute

MRS KIKKERT (Ginninderra) (6.31): I rise today to congratulate Alexander Arnel of Page on reaching a very significant milestone. On 2 April this year he concluded a century of living. I greatly enjoyed meeting Alex and his daughter and learning more about his life’s journey. It is often said that fact can be more exciting than fiction, and Alex’s 100 years have certainly been filled with a good deal of excitement.

Born in Ballarat and raised in the small town of Stawell in the Grampians, Alex left home after his schooldays to pursue teacher training. Personally determined never to fight, he watched first his older brother and then his father, a veteran of World War I, enlist to serve in the armed forces. The former was sent to the Middle East and the latter was assigned to New Guinea. This made Alex reassess his earlier position. He said, “What’s the difference between fighting the enemy over there or waiting until they come to the door?” He asked himself, “Would I fight them at my door?” “Yes,” he concluded. So in January 1941 he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force.

What happened next could easily be the script for an adventure movie. Alex’s aeroplane was hit by ground fire whilst he was engaged with enemy fighters over Italy in 1944. His only hope was to escape the doomed aircraft, but the side door simply would not open. Alex was forced to lock the airplane into a nosedive position and deploy his parachute. Thankfully, it worked.

Alex landed safely next to a group of German soldiers. Taken as a prisoner of war, he was incarcerated in a dark, hot room and repeatedly interrogated. After one interrogation, he listened as the prisoner in the neighbouring cell was taken out, followed by gunshot. Alex realised that he may well be next to die. “What kept me going during this time,” he said, “was poetry and singing hymns.”


Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video